Page 59 - China, 5000 years : innovation and transformation in the arts

manganese oxide that can be measured by X-ray §-shs b, g
fluorescence and related tools that measure mineral z-
composition and the microstructure of minerals. 10 v
The dagger-ax (ge; cat. n) from the Shaanxi

Provincial Museum falls into this category of
manganese oxide—rich nephrite. Wen Guang has

explained that the dark green and brown to almost
black coloration of tall cong (see, for example, cat. 5)
appears to derive from jades that have been
collected over time. This phenomenon may be
attributable to panmo, the repeated handling ofjade

that causes discoloration over time, especially

through oxidation of the iron content. The so-

called chicken-bone white (jigubai) or chalky

white surface patches, particularly common on

Liangzhu jades (see cat. 3) but also on others
(cats. 2, 12), appears to be caused primarily by

heating to a temperature above 900 C rather than

by alteration during a long burial." The jade

mineral does not decompose, but its density
decreases and its microstructure becomes looser so

that the jade may become brittle and less

translucent.

Jade as a precious stone has an eminent history in Fig. l.Jade types of the Hongshan culture:A. Hooked
China and for this reason is intimately linked with cloud; B. Horse-hoof shape; C. Dragon; D. Pig-dragon;
the beginnings of Chinese ritual and Chinese
civilization. As one archaeologist has pointed out, FE. Disk; Cat-headed bird; G. Cicada; H. Fish;
all characters, or graphs, written with the jade
graph yu are associated with spiritual power or I. Turtle; J. Double dragon-head arcli; K. Three-ring
beauty.' 2 For example, the word bao ("precious")
incorporates the jade graph. So does the word gtti ornament with pig-head protomes; L.Ax ; M. Three-hole
(a kind ofjasper stone or an adjective meaning
"extraordinary" or "admirable"). flat ornament; N. Bead; O. Bracelet; P. Pencil-shaped
stick; Q. Bauble; R. Animal face with tusk-like
extensions; S. Animal-face handle; T. Hook-shaped
handle. Neolithic period, Hongshau culture (ca. 3600-
ca. 2000 bce).

Jade's sacrosanct position in the history of Chinese and prior to the historic Xia.' 4 Archaeological
tradition is probably best told not through later evidence documents this reference: jade was the
anecdotal descriptions, but rather through excavated
finds and the earliest literary reference to ritual (//) primary medium exploited by the elite to
symbolize their power to rule. Whether or not we
in Shang period bone inscriptions.' 3 The character
use the label "Jade Age," the use ofjade over an
//' incorporates the jade graph yu, suggesting by its approximate sixteen-hundred-year period (ca. 3600-
inclusion that jade was the earliest material as art to
2400 bce) may be traced largely to coastal pari'- of
be used in religious worship. The function ofjade
China, an area of great cultural innovation at this
as a preservative and symbol of immortality is also time. 15 Elite tribal groups forming what

well known through Han alchemical practice and anthropologists now describe as China's earliest

the life-preserving quality that is signified in the city-states are associated with these jade-working

burial jade body suits of the Warring States and —cultures the Liangzhu in China's southeastern
Han periods.
provinces of Zhejiang andjiangsu and in Shanghai;
JADE AS RITUAL IMPLEMENT AND INSIGNIA and slightly later Shandong Longshan cultures ol
northeast China; but also possibly by the slightly
The working ofjade is well illustrated by numerous earlier 1-longshan, ol far northeast China, primarily,
1 iaoning and Inner Mongolia provinces.
finds from the three successive late Neolithic
cultures, that occupied coastal northern through Jade types from I longshan tombs (see tig [) are
sinking in their seemingly non-Chinese taste for
southern China, from Liaoning down as far as
Fujian. As Willetts once noted, Yuan Kang in The sculpturally sensuous form. Two jades in this

Lost Records of Yue (Yue jueslni), a Warring States —exhibition an ornament 111 the form >>t hooked
text, wrote that after the Stone (Neolithic) and
clouds with profile bird cat. 1) and an ornament in
before the Bronze and Iron ages, man used jade for the form of a curling so-called pig-dragon {zlmloiig;
weapons; this "Jade Age" was a period

contemporary with the legendary Five Emperors

IADE AS MATERIAL AND EPOCH 57